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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02303 2086
THE STORY OF THE STATES EDITED BY
ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/storyofkentucky00conn_0
THE STORY OF THE STATES
THE STORY OF KENTUCKY
BY EMMA M. CONNELLY
STAVE
UNT
E FALL
FO WE
M
STANO
Illustrations by L J Bridgman
1
Y
BOSTON D LOTHROP COMPANY
WASHINGTON OPPOSITE BROMFIELD STREET
1687313
COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY D. LOTHROP COMPANY. 13
PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH. BOSTON, U.S.A.
PREFACE.
-
THE Story of Kentucky is no less exact history because of its somewhat romantic air. Where a character hitherto unknown in history is introduced, it has always been drawn from real life, with only such unimportant changes as name, residence, and the occasional borrowing of incident from the lives of others among the great crowd of " unknown and unsung." And, in a certain sense, are not these as much a part of their times and country as those whom ambition and self-assertion, as often as excep- tional merit, have served to bring into prominence? There are shadows ; but none unwarranted by the truth as I have seen it, and none questioned by the two historical authorities who care- fully examined the manuscript and proofs- one a literary mem- ber of the State Historical Society at Louisville, the " Filson Club."
I had no thought of writing a Preface : it seems a rather per- sonal, egotistic proceeding ; but. since I am requested to write one, I might as well speak the thoughts that are in my mind, and express my pleasure in the recent renewal of literary inter- est in Kentucky, even though that means a good deal of criticism, just and unjust. Since the passing away of the pic- turesque pioneer with his tales of adventure, Kentucky seems to have presented little temptation to the poet, dramatist and story-writer. And the flying tourist scans the uninviting fields along his way - ( especially certain sections of Eastern Ken- ticky ) -- in cherished ignorance of the fact that he sees no more of the real Kentucky than he sees of great cities under similar circumstances. The typical Kentuckian is scarcely less averse to the railroad as a feature of his landscape than Ruskin, and is far more active in keeping it out. His home is not on the highway. but hidden away among clustering forest trees.
PREFACE.
Usually it is the shiftless and unthrifty who stand staring at the train.
To the distinguished writer ( equally loved in this State as in others ), who wonders why this " stately land " has " not yet produced a crop of men to match"; and who suggests that "more than fertile soil is needed to produce great men," I would like to say that, in most things, it takes more than a passing glance to detect unusual force - especially mental force - and more than ordinary stress to discover it. Though a contented people make no remarkable record, the men and women of Kentucky contribute more than is realized to the progress and prosperity of their country.
Be not deceived. This Commonwealth, standing serene and unpretentious amidst the august group of Sister States. wears Heaven's smile, even down to the outermost hem of her wood- land borders; the dignity of independence, the simple grace of strength is in her poise ; she is no mean member of the National Household. Not so rich as some, yet carefully clothing and housing not only her own poor, but the stricken of other less favored lands. Not so learned as some, yet with far-reaching glance and active brain, quick to see favorably and to decide justly. Less fluent in speech than action ; less ready to dream of noble deeds than to do them ; with willing hands, unenvious heart, and "ample. flowing, hospitable ways"; "stretching out her hands" to rich as well as poor; in her tongue the law of kindness - surely "strength and honor are her clothing ; and she shall rejoice in time to come."
Luna Me. Comelle
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE PIONEER
.
-
CHAPTER II.
IN THE BEGINNING
1
CHAPTER III.
THE COUNTY OF KENTUCKY . 65 1777-1781.
CHAPTER IV.
THE STATE OF KENTUCKY
88 1784-1794.
CHAPTER V.
THE LITTLE CLOUD
113 1794-1803. CHAPTER VI.
BREAKING THE ROD OF BRITISH POWER · 138 1805-1826.
CHAPTER VII.
" THE FIRE-BELL IN THE NIGHT" 165
1830-1850.
II 1774-1775.
37 1775.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
" FRATRICIDAL WAR "
188
1850-1862.
CHAPTER IX.
CRUEL WAR
1862-1864.
CHAPTER. X.
CLOSE OF THE WAR
233 1864-1865. .
CHAPTER XI.
WITHOUT SLAVERY
253 1866-1890. .
CHAPTER XII.
AFTER MANY YEARS
277
1890.
THE CHRONOLOGICAL STORY .
297
THE PEOPLE'S COVENANT 325
BOOKS RELATING TO KENTUCKY
333
INDEX .
· 335
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Building the stockade
Frontispiece
Kold Fort Boonesborough. Initial
II
Through the wilderness 15
" The struggle was short and fierce "
25
" A little hungry, ain't ye ?"
31
Daniel Boone. Initial
36
" My gran'sir wus a English Juke "
41
Betsey Calloway's ruse
49
The torture-post
59
George Rogers Clarke. Initial
65
Ambushed
69
Dolly
75
" How could we stick on?"
83
John Filson. Initial
88
Office of the Kentucky Gazette
92
Cabell's cottage
ICO
Desolation
109
John Brown - Kentucky's first delegate. Initial
113
The Grave of Daniel Boone
117
Shooting for a wife .
123
Seeking for light
133
A Kentucky girl of ISoo. Initial
138
Ashland, the home of Clay
142
A watery wooing
151
Lafayette in 1824
1 59
George D. Prentice. Initial
165
The Court House porch
169
Picturesque Kentucky 175
183
" To write poetry became the fashion " General Robert Anderson. Initial . Brother against brother
ISS
192
ILLUSTRATIONS.
" The Dark and Bloody Ground "
197
Reconnoitering .
207
General John C. Breckenridge. Initial
211
The birthplace of Abraham Lincoln
215
" Silently and in the night they stole away "
221
Cruel War
229
The old Capitol. Initial .
233
After the battle
237
Henry Clay : The Great Kentuckian
243
In the Post-office
249
Wing of the new Capitol. Initial
253
Among the mountains
256
In the Cumberland Mountains .
263
Thoroughbred .
273
In the Blue-Grass Country. Initial .
277
Near Frankfort
281
In the Mammoth Cave
285
Cornelia : A typical Kentucky girl of 1890
293
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THE STORY OF KENTUCKY
CHAPTER I.
THE PIONEER.
ET was in the fall of 1774. The first omi- nous rumble of the American revolu- tion was just begin- ning to be heard; Fort at Boonesboro 1775 people were growing restless and migratory, and Edmund Cabell, the son of a well-to-do Virginia gentleman, ran away from home. His purpose was to join himself to Lord Dunmore's army in its expedition against the Indians gath- ered in force at Pittsburg. Young Cabell was only nineteen; he was the third son, and not the favorite; hence he felt himself justified in taking his fortune into his own hands.
He was by no means handsome or graceful ; he
OK - !!
1 2
THE PIONEER.
had neither the easy address of his father nor his two elder brothers. He cared little for dress, and despised the formalities of the society by which he was surrounded. His brilliant father considered him dull, and rarely ever mentioned his name except to make some sarcastic remark on his appearance. His dainty mother, a descendant of those wandering cavaliers, the refugee courtiers of the unfortunate King Charles's court, often wondered plaintively why so much blue blood made so poor a showing.
Even his English tutor, seeing him reading at random instead of studying his lessons, and spend- ing his leisure in hunting and hobnobbing with backwoodsmen and adventurers, had no thought of the noble ideal of life, the heroic longings, hidden beneath that rugged exterior. And his lively brothers would have greeted any expression of his high-flown aspirations with shouts of derision.
Yet he was not one to pass through life un- noticed, nor to pass anywhere without comment. Not that he wished to attract the attention which to him meant criticism; but there was a real strength in the irregular physiognomy of this Vir- ginia lad that was bound to make itself felt. This could be seen by one who carefully studied the noticeable face with its large aquiline nose, its prominent cheek bones, and the keen, resolute
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THE PIONEER.
gray eyes, in which not unfrequently shone a hostile light.
Edmund considered himself as hardly used by his own family as well as by Fate. But his crowning misfortune resulted from a sudden and strange infatuation conceived for one of Lord Dunmore's lovely and accomplished daughters. A keen ob- server of human faces, he was not long in discover- ing himself an object of secret amusement to the smiling Lady Augusta. He saw that even she was helping to make him a subject of ridicule to the crowd. With a heart bursting with mortifica- tion and rage he turned his back on all the gay company gathered about his father's home, rushed to his room, and hastily packing a knapsack, that night rode after the army. And as he galloped off he registered a vow never to come back until he had become a great and distinguished man.
The war was soon over, and Lord Dunmore leading his little army toward home, leaving the Indians apparently humbled and willing to live in peace with their white neighbors. But Cabell staid behind; he had not yet distinguished himself; his vow was not yet redeemed. He remained that winter at Fort Pitt, spending the most of his time in hunting. Through the winter he heard a good deal about a beautiful country down the Ohio, where the tall and stately forests were
14
THE PIONEER.
almost free from the undergrowth which so much interfered with the hunting around Fort Pitt. The spirit of adventure took possession of him.
A party of surveyors, who had been sent out by the Governor of Virginia to survey the lands granted to soldiers in the war against the French, had brought back wonderful accounts of the new country. Daniel Boone and his brother had spent many months there hunting, and had now gone back with the intention of settling in this new region. Simon Kenton, a young man who had taken active part in the Dunmore war, had told such wonderful tales of the "cane-land " where the turkeys were so plentiful, and of the "salt-licks" where the deer and elk came in great droves, that everybody was wild to go to "Cane-tuck-ee."
In their treaty with Lord Dunmore, then Gov- ernor of Virginia, the Indians had relinquished all claim to this beautiful country. It had been for generations their choice hunting-ground; there Northern and Southern tribes had met in conflict, and over its fair expanse had been fought so many fierce battles that it was called the " dark and bloody ground." None dared to settle in that murderous region lest the ghosts of the slain braves should take vengeance upon them. Since the treaty a company of white men, having no fear of the ghostly warriors that were said to guard it.
1
I 5
THE PIONEER.
had, under the management of Judge Henderson of North Carolina, purchased of the Cherokees, for the sum of ten thousand pounds, the greater portion of the country called " Cane-tuck-ee," and had now gone on to take possession.
Cabell went with none of these parties; but, on
rough
the
ilderness. *
the tenth of April, 1775, in company with an old hunter for whom he had formed a friendship, he set out for the "hunter's paradise." " Old Mon- mouth's" early ambition. long quenched in the morass of easy things, quickly revived under con- tact with Cabell's vivid energy; and the old
16
THE PIONEER.
hunter's experience in wood-craft was of great ad- vantage to the young man. They carried blankets. a buckskin over-jacket for protection against rain. a small quantity of bread, and a good supply of ammunition. No one cares how " Old Mon- mouth " looked ; but Cabell, who was tall and muscular, wore a dark-blue hunting-shirt with a belt at the waist, buckskin breeches, with leggins buttoned closely from the knee down to his stout boots, and a dark, narrow-brimmed hat of the fashion worn in those days.
All through the rugged country of Western Vir- ginia they kept well together; but after they had crossed the Big Sandy River and advanced farther and farther into the beautiful and luxurious country beyond it, the spirit of daring grew upon them ; they forgot all about the Indians and began to relax their usual vigilance.
One day, starting in pursuit of a wounded deer. which led him a long chase before it fell, Cabell discovered that he was beyond the hearing of his companion. He called aloud ; he fired his gun ; but all in vain. There came neither answering shot nor shout. After a fruitless searching of several anxious hours, hunger drove him back to his quarry. He skinned and flayed the deer and car- ried away with him meat enough to serve for several meals; then, after several more hours of
---
I 7
THE PIONEER.
wandering, he gave over the search as night came on, struck a fire, roasted his meat, and ate a barty meal. Wearied with the fatigues of the day, he wrapped himself in his blanket, threw himself upon the ground and slept soundly until morning.
As soon as he had breakfasted he resumed the search for his companion, but with no better success. He had lost the trail. The second night, as he was about to strike a fire, the tinkle of a bell fell on his ears. Hastily gathering up his possessions and moving cautiously in the direction of the sound, he came upon a horse grazing in an open space.
Cabell's feelings at this sight are more easily imagined than described. He knew that when Indians were bound upon any desperate expedition they left their horses behind-belled, if possible, Als an assistance in finding them when needed again. The savages, he concluded, had doubt- less captured his friend the old trapper and were now not far away ; for aught he knew they might, at this very moment, be lurking in the shadowy woods about him. He keenly felt the peril of his position. But, though young and inexperi- unced, his courage did not desert him. He crept into a thicket close by, and drawing together the branches behind him, lay down to await develop-
IS
THE PIONEER.
ments. Night fell, and still that little bell tinkled on; and still Cabell lay motionless in his am- bush. His limbs ached with fatigue; his eyes were strained with watching, but he did not relax his vigilance ; he knew that the least movement might bring down upon him the savage foe.
How slowly that long night passed away ! How vividly rose before him the peace and comfort of his home, far away! For the first time he realized how easy had been his lot. Everything had been provided for him; there had been no irksome tasks to perform ; there had come nothing to make him afraid.
But the longest night must end at last, and at dawn Cabell fell asleep. In his dreams he thought he heard the sound of horses' feet. The noise awoke him. It was, indeed, that ominous sound : a mounted party of Indians were passing close to his covert. Cabell gave one glance of horror, then closed his eyes, lest their excited gleam should betray him. He saw that one side of the foremost Indian's face was painted red, the other side black ; the head was closely shaven, except where on the top a few bristling hairs were interwoven with a bunch of colored feathers. Cabell saw nothing else distinctly; he could not tell whether " Old Monmouth " was with them or not.
When he looked again the party was gone, except
19
THE PIONEER.
one of the warriors, however, who lingered to fasten the carcass of a deer across the horse which had grazed near the watchful pale-face all that night. Not succeeding to his satisfaction, the warrior threw it down again, and cutting off a piece of the venison, set about making a fire to cook it.
When Cabell saw the Indian roasting his own meat so peacefully, with gun and tomahawk both resting against a tree, his hunger and weariness got the better of his judgment. " Are we not all of one family ?" he said. His mind was quickly made up; creeping out of his thicket he pro- ceeded, with many demonstrations of friendliness, to join his red brother.
At first the Indian appeared startled and sus- picious ; but as Cabell continued his signs of peace, the red-man seemed to acquiesce, and motioned his unexpected guest to help himself. " It is the white people who are to blame," thought Cabell, as he cut off a generous slice of venison, taking care, however, to keep one eye on his host. " How easily this poor Indian was conciliated."
While Cabell was broiling his meat the Indian busied himself with gathering up sticks to replenish the fire. Cabell was naturally a keen observer, and while there was no thought of hostility in his mind, he was not too intent on his cooking to note his companion's every motion. A sudden
20
THE PIONEER.
movement startled him; looking up he had just time to dodge the Indian's tomahawk which came whirling toward him, and to brace himself for a desperate conflict. The struggle was short and fierce ; but unexpected strength came to the Vir- ginia lad in his need, and when the combatants fell to the earth, the savage was beneath. In another instant the white man had seized his knife and buried it in his antagonist's breast.
With a cry of anguish the Indian relinquished his hold and looked up beseechingly into Cabell's face. But it was too late. The young man turned away with a sickening feeling of remorse. " God have mercy on this poor heathen's soul," was the earnest cry of his heart. "I would have been a brother to him, but he would not."
He took the Indian's tomahawk and dug a grave and buried him. He covered the grave with leaves and brush, and then, gathering up his own belongings, left the place. He pitied more than he blamed his dead foeman. Doubtless, he thought, this poor savage has learned his duplicity from the whites ; for alas, too many white men have played the traitor.
When he had gone a few rods he suddenly thought of "Old Monmouth." Could he desert his old friend in a time of danger, even to save his own life? As he returned, glancing keenly
2 I
THE PIONEER.
around him, his eye fell on a slip of paper on the ground. He remembered that he had provided his friend with the paper, and also a pencil of red " keel." It was indeed the old trapper's rudely scrawled message. " Beware," it ran ; " Ingines is in the woods. I kin make frens and git 'em to go tords the fort, doan't tri to cum bak, kep rite on."
Desperate as was the situation, Cabell could scarcely forbear smiling. "Poor old Monmouth," he thought, "always swamped in the hard places. Ever since the bread gave out, he has longed after civilization. A noble soul, but not faultless in his spelling."
The familiar tinkle of a bell again reminded him of the horse. Going back he secured the animal, removed the bell, and provided himself with a large slice of the venison, knowing it would be hazardous to fire his gun again in that vicinity. He mounted the horse and rode swiftly away. "Old Monmouth " had made it impossible for him to return to the fort now. Otherwise, in his lone- liness and horror he might have been tempted to retreat. But, if the Indians had gone that way, safety he knew lay in the other direction.
He traveled steadily for two days and nights, breaking the trail in the numerous streams by going some distance in the water; eating his meat uncooked, lest the tell-tale smoke reveal his
22
THE PIONEER.
whereabouts ; taking every precaution to escape pursuit.
After the first few days of vigilance, these days of loneliness were not without their recompense ; for Cabell was young and hopeful and possessed of a passionate love for nature. The farther he went the more secure he felt, for he recalled the promise made to Lord Dunmore by old Cornstalk, Chief of the Shawanese, at the Point Pleasant treaty. There should be, said this celebrated chieftain, no more war on the whites in " Cane-tuck-ee." He had said too that six of his men were then in that country and, not knowing of the treaty, might attack the whites; if they were killed, no one, he declared, should suffer for it. These men whom Cabell had seen were doubtless the ones to whom Cornstalk referred. The chances of meeting some of the numerous settlers who had gone into that country early in the spring, was, he was certain, much greater than that of again running into the little band of Indians.
The deep forests through which he passed, -
"The nodding horror of whose shady brow Threats the forlorn and wandering passenger," -
filled him with a sort of awe; but it was nearer akin to delight than dread. The swift rustle of some frightened animal did not startle him; the
23
THE PIONEER.
only foe he dreaded was stealthy footed. Nature trailed her royal robes through these woods and glades, broidered with most exquisite flowers. Was all this stateliness and grandeur intended merely to adorn an Indian hunting-ground ? Could any one question the white man's right to an honest purchase of these fertile acres from the savage, who made so poor a use of them ?
On the afternoon of the fifth day the darken- ing sky seemed to bode a coming storm. Turning his horse loose in an open glade Cabell proceeded to construct a camp on the hillside overlooking it. A niche between two rocks, roofed over with sticks and bark and moss until impervious to rain, and with an impenetrable doorway of brush, made a fortress to defy any ordinary marauder.
He was soothed to sleep that night by a saturna- lian din of howling wolves and screeching cata- mounts, that might have unnerved a maturer man. They had come in quest of the choice bits of veni- son which he had swung to the branches of a tree. Once he awoke in the night, and from the howl- ing and growling, the spitting and snapping and crunching of bones, he concluded that a general massacre was going on outside; but he turned over on his deerskin couch and dropped off to sleep again. Next morning there were no traces of the wassailers, except a few fragments of fur :
24
THE PIONEER.
there were no traces of the venison either. It was raining sharply, and as there was no breakfast wait- ing, Cabell sank back on his couch and was soon asleep again.
When he awoke, the rain had ceased, the sky was clear. He pushed aside the brush and was about to step forth when a moving figure on the plain below caught his eye. A horseman approached rapidly to where his horse was grazing, threw a halter round its neck and retreated as rapidly as he came. Horrors! The Indians had found his trail, and were evidently confident of his capture. else they would never have shown themselves so openly. The fellow fled with his prize as if expecting in- stant pursuit; but that was a ruse, of course, to draw him out.
The horse which Cabell brought from home had been so severely wounded on the battle-field that he hired a soldier to kill it. But he had become attached to this one and felt almost as much discomfited by its loss as by the presence of the Indians.
As he stood peering indignantly over his screen, a faint rustle in the bushes caused him to draw back quickly. And while he crouched, watching, a long, lithe panther crept out of the thicket, sniff- ing inquisitively in the air, as if to say: " Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishmun !"
25.1.26
"THE STRUGGLE WAS SHORT AND FIERCE." See foge 20.
27
THE PIONEER.
She looked innocent enough. If Cabell had not known the beast he might have thought from the gentle tread, the large, mild-eyed gaze, that the creat- ure had been maligned. Fortunately, she caught a glimpse of the flying horseman below ; her curiosity was aroused, and she set off down the hill at a brisk trot.
As both his enemies had gone west Cabell now turned his face southward, leaving as distinct a trail in the soft earth and tender grass as the poorest Indian or panther could want. It was about one o'clock, and he had eaten nothing since the night before. Plenty of game about him, but the first shot would bring down the Indians, and Cabell was not ready yet to risk his life for food.
Days of weary wandering through the woods ensued; now south, now west, he went, searching diligently for traces of the settlers ; living on roots and leaves, growing daily weaker, more lonely and desperate, until at length he sank down exhausted, scarce caring if he never rose again. Was the dream of life to end like this - scalped by Indians and devoured by wolves - the fiendish ghouls even then slinking with hideous patience on his track ?
How long he lay there he never knew; but in those hours of agonized introspection he grew acquainted with his own soul, in all its majesty and all its weakness.
28
THE PIONEER.
Before me as I write lie three bits of paper; yel- low, crumpled and time-worn. Strange how these fragments have escaped destruction all these years, to furnish us a glimpse into the soul of that past which, with all our books, is little more to us than a graveyard. Have we not read all about those old pioneers ? Of their fighting and eating and sleeping and fighting again - with an occasional hour in the corn-field? What thoughts had they except of purely practical concern for the neces- saries of bodily existence? Well, here are these bits of paper, written weeks apart; the unpre- meditated outpourings of a heart as susceptible to noble or tender impressions as one might find among the cultivated youth of the present day. On the back of the first paper (which is entirely without punctuation) is a measured plan of Cabell's route through the wilderness; on the written side this :
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